MAMMALS

Mammals are animals that have warm-blood, fur or hair and usually have live babies. A few mammals
lay eggs rather than giving birth to live babies. They feed their babies with milk and have more
developed brain than other types of animals.

All mammals have some type of body hair or fur, though marine mammals, like dolphins and whales,
are hairless. Over 5,500 species of mammals have been recorded.

Mammals maintain their body temperatures about the same temperature all the time, despite the
temperature outside their bodies. Warm blood allows mammals to be very active and live in a wide
variety of environments. Fur and fat help protect mammals in the cold, while sweating or panting
releases extra heat for mammals in hot conditions.
 BIRDS

Birds have feathers, wings, lay eggs and are warm blooded.

There are around 10000 different species of birds worldwide.

The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It also lays the largest eggs and has the fastest maximum
running speed (97 kph).

Scientists believe that birds evolved from the ropod dinosaurs.

Birds have hollow bones which help them fly.

Some bird species are intelligent enough to create and use tools.

The chicken is the most common species of bird found in the world.

Kiwis are endangered, flightless birds that live in New Zealand. They lay the largest eggs relative to their
body size of any bird in the world.

Hummingbirds can fly backwards.

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world, with a length of just 5 cm (2 in).

Around 20% of bird species migrate long distances every year.

Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home from long distances away and have been used for
thousands of years to carry messages.
 FISH

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Most fish reproduce by laying eggs, though some , such as great white sharks, give birth to live babies
called pups.

Lungfish can live out of water for several years. It secretes a mucus cocoon and burrows itself under the
unbaked earth. It takes in air with its lung through a built-in breathing tube that leads to the surface. A
lungfish has both gills and a lung.

Some fish, such as the great white shark, can raise their body temperature. This helps them hunt for
prey in cold water.

The oldest known age for a fish was an Australian lungfish. In 2003, it was still alive and well at 65 years
old.

Fish use a variety of low-pitched sounds to convey messages to each other. They moan, grunt, croak,
boom, hiss, whistle, creak, shriek, and wail. They rattle their bones and gnash their teeth. However, fish
do not have vocal chords. They use other parts of their bodies to make noises, such as vibrating muscles
against their swim bladder.

Fish can form schools containing millions of fish. They use their eyes and something called a lateral line
to hold their places in the school. The lateral line is a row of pores running along the fish’s sides from
head to tail. Special hairs in the pores sense changes in water pressure from the movements of other
fish or predators.
 INSECTS

 The number of insect species is believed to be between six

and ten million.

 Insect bodies have three parts, the thorax, abdomen and

head.

 Insects have two antennae.

 Insects have three pairs of legs.

 Some insects, such as gerridae (water striders), are able to

walk on the surface of water.

 Bees, termites and ants live in well organized social colonies.

 Only male crickets chirp.

 Insects are cold blooded.

 Silkworms are used as the primary producer of silk.

 Most insects hatch from eggs.  

 Some cicadas can make sounds nearly 120 decibels loud.  

 The life cycle of a mosquito features four stages, egg, larva,

 
pupa and adult.
Female mosquitoes drink blood in order to obtain nutrients  
needed to produce eggs.

 Spiders are not insects.

 Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica.

 Ants leave trails and communicate with each other using

pheromones as chemical signals.

AMPHIBIANS

Naturalists divide amphibians into three main families:

1. frogs and toads;

2.salamanders and newts;

3. and the strange, worm-like, limbless vertebrates called caecilians.

There are currently about 6,000 species of frogs and toads around the world, but only one-tenth as
many newts and salamanders and even fewer caecilians. All can breathe and absorb water through
their very thin skin.

Amphibians also have special skin glands that produce useful proteins. Some transport water, oxygen,
and carbon dioxide either into or out of the animal. Others fight bacteria or fungal infections. And at
least one—in each species—is used for defense.

To warn potential predators, the most toxic amphibians are also the most brightly colored.

Like reptiles, amphibians are cold-blooded. Because of their special skin, they require very specific
living conditions. Too much sun can damage their cells. Too much wind can dry their skin and
dehydrate the animal. As a result, amphibians are the first to die off when their habitats are disturbed
or contaminated with chemicals like weed killers. This is the main reason over half of all frog species
are in danger of extinction.